Slide fasteners



April 21 1 970" MITSUO INAZAWA SLIDE FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 8, 1967 FIG.?

ATTORNEY.

April 1- 1970 MITSUO INAZAWA I 3,507,013

SLIDE FASTENERS Original Filed March 8, 1967 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FI.G.5

I E E E mmnmnun I mmn MITSUD INAZHWH ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,507,013 SLIDE FASTENERS Mitsuo Inazawa, Kurobe-shi, Japan, assignor to Ustav pro vyzkum motorovych vozidel, Prague, Czechoslovakia Original application Mar. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 621,508. Divided and this application July 24, 1968, Ser. No. 747,194 Claims priority, application Japan, Apr. 13, 1966, 41/314,070; Apr. 18, 1966, 41/24,490 Int. Cl. A44b 19/00 US. Cl. 24-205.11 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A slide fastener comprising a pair of stringer tapes carrying rows of continuous plastic fastener elements interlockable by a slider. A terminal fastener element on each stringer is provided with a blank, linear end portion extending crosswise of the bottom end section of the tape, thereby reinforcing this tape section and at the same time, preventing the terminal element from shifting away from the stitching which holds it to the tape.

This is a division of the copending application Ser. No. 621,508, filed Mar. 8, 1967.

This invention relates to slide fasteners or zippers of the type comprising continuous interlocking elements of plastic material attached to a pair of stringer tapes having a separable stop member, such plastic elements being of a coil or meandering form.

More particularly, the invention is concerned with a slide fastener construction utilizing a fastener element chain of the type comprising linear, non-convolution portions interposed at suitable intervals between the successive convolutions of the coil elements.

Still more particularly, the invention is concerned with means for securing in particular the first meshing or terminal elements to the respective stringers against shifting away from the stitching which holds the elements to the tape.

With slide fasteners of the conventional class, it has been observed that the terminal or first meshing elements on the opposing stringers of the fastener are susceptible to lateral displacement or departure from the sewing threads due to repeated opening and closure of the stringers by a reciprocating slider.

Positional stability and proper alignment of the first meshing elements immediately above the separable stop member of the fastener are essential to orderly, smooth meshing of the rest of the row of elements arranged along the edges of the stringers.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide new and useful means for preventing the first meshing or terminal one of each row of interlocking elements from shifting away from the stitching of the tape under repeated coupling and uncoupling of the stringers by a reciprocating slider.

It is another object of the invention to provide new and useful means for reinforcing that bottom tape portion of each stringer at which a separating device is attached.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be best understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosed for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the bottom portion of a slide fastener of the type employing plastic 3,507,013 Patented Apr. 21, 1970 elements of the meandering form with a pin part inserted halfway into a box part of a separator, said bottom part being reinforced with a plastic film;

FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1 but showing the bottom part of the fastener as reinforced by injectionmoulding integrally with the separator;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line III--III of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line IV-IV of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 5 is a fastener element chain having a linear spacing at suitable intervals which is preferably used in accordance with the invention.

The slide fastener shown has a pair of flat fabric tapes T, each having an inner marginal edge 10 along which is arranged a row of closely spaced and aligned interlocking elements E. The rows of continuous plastic elements E are attached to the respective stringer tapes by suitable stitching, e.g. two-thread chain stitching as illustrated in the drawings. The stitching S extends substantially as far down as the lower end of bottom space portion T of each stringer, while the terminal or first meshing element E similarly extends, without being cut at the top end of the space portion T as in conventional practice, on one or the other side of the stringer depending upon the form of the fastener element used. More specifically, the terminal element E of a meandering form extends, as seen at 11, substantially crosswise of the bottom or space portio'n T of each stringer tape T.

This portion T is devoid of interlocking elements E, and reinforced with suitable material such as a plastic film 18 which is folded around the marginal edge of said portion T, the terminal element extension 11 and the stitching S, and adhesively secured to the tape with heat and pressure or with use of an adhesive compound. Alternatively, the space portion T of the tape T may be reinforced by injection moulding as at 12 integrally with the separator when the latter is attached to the tape.

The stitching S at its beaded side forms a similar ridge 14 along the front edge portion of the stringer T, thus producing a cross-sectionally flared end 15 as seen from FIGS. 3 and 4. This flare or swollen end portion 15 offers the advantage that the stringer tapes T are gripped firmly enough at that portion by the pin member 16 and box member 17 of the separator when the latter are moulded to the tapes. This advantage accrues secondarily from achieving the primary object of the present invention which resides in preventing the terminal element E from shifting away from the stitching S by anchoring its extension 11 to the tape.

With a meandering or zigzag form of element, the extension 11 of the terminal element E may be con veniently laid on the reverse side of the stringer or opposite to the beaded side of the stitching S as seen from FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. Whereas, with a coil form of element as is the case of FIG. 2, the element terminates on the same side of the tape with the beaded face of the stitching S as the coil element is sewn usually along one side of the stringer, different from the meandering element.

The terminal element E has its linear, blank extension 11 laid substantially diagonally of the bottom space portion T of the tape and adhesively secured in place with a plastic film 18 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) or by injectionmoulding (FIG. 2).

This arrangement provides for positional stability of the terminal or first meshing element E of each element row which is normally subjected to severer local strain under repeated opening and closure of the stringers than the rest of the elements in the row, and further provides that the terminal element E extending crosswise of the reinforced tape T imparts to this part of the tape a suitable resiliency inherent in the plastic material of the element which will facilitate easy coupling and uncoupling of the separator, while preventing severe flexing of the reinforced tape T between the first meshing element E and the separator even when it is subjected to local strain under repeated coupling and uncoupling of the pin and box members of the separator.

The separable bottom stop or separator attached to the reinforced tapes T may be of the usual construction including a pin member 16 having a ridge portion 20 and a box-like retainer 17 having a groove 21 for slidable engagement with the ridge 20. The pin part 16 of the separator is further provided with a lug 22 at one end of the ridge portion 20 for engagement with the first meshing element E on the box side of the stringer. Separators of this type are well known and hence, will require no further description. It is to be noted, however, that the separator acceptable for implementing the present invention may be made either from plastic or metallic material, as the case may be. The fastener, of course, is opened and closed by a common form of reciprocating slider (not shown).

Having thus described the invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise form advanced herein, but some modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

As for an example, it is preferred according to the invention to use a fastener element chain of the type shown in FIG. 5 which has linear, blank portions 31 interposed at suitable intervals between series "of interlocking elements of either a coil or a meandering form as said blank portions 31 may be readily utilized as anchoring extension 11 of the terminal element E in the manner described.

As for another example, the extension 11 of the terminal element E may be arranged longitudinally, in-

stead of crosswise, of the reinforced tape T adjacent to the separator, or may be of any length sufiicient to relieve the local strain at the terminal element E.

What is claimed is:

1. A slide fastener of the type described, having a pair of stringer tapes each carrying a row of continuous plastic fastener elements interlockable by a slider and stitched along an inner edge portion of the tape, said tape having a bead of stitching on one side thereof, and a separator consisting of a box and a pin member secured to one end portions of the respective stringer tapes, said fastener elements terminating with substantially linear, blank end portions extending crosswise of and anchored in said one end portions of the respective stringer tapes.

2. The slide fastener according to claim 1 wherein said linear, blank end portions are anchored in place by a plastic film folded around and adhered to said one end portions of the respective tapes.

3. The slide fastener according to claim 1 wherein said linear, blank end portions are anchored in place by injection-moulding to said one end portions of the respective tape.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,377,668 4/ 1968 Carlile.

FOREIGN PATENTS 259,598 1/1964 Australia. 1,429,354 6/1966 France.

(Addition of N0. 87,313)

BERNARD GELAK, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 24--205 .16 

